People of faith may "know God"…but knowing about God– that's a different story.

The Pew Research Center quizzed Americans on their knowledge of religion. And listen to this: the highest scorers were not the devout believers... They were actually Atheists and Agnostics! The people who have rejected religion outright or aren't exactly sure. Mormons and Jews came a close second, outperforming Protestants and Roman Catholics when it came to knowing details about all religions. It was even more shocking to see that people claiming a religion couldn't even answer simple questions about their own faith!

For example, more than half of Protestants couldn't even identify Martin Luther as the man who led the establishment of the Protestant church. The quiz was 32 questions long... The average number of correct answers: 16. That’s half.

Seems like a lot of wrong answers for a nation where just about four in five people says they belong to some sort of religious group.

Makes sense to me too. It was my thirst for more knowledge about 'religion' that led to more questions than answers and my current agnostic stance. "Whoa, lady, I only speak two languages, English and bad English." - Korben Dallas, from The Fifth Element

"If history repeats itself, and the unexpected always happens, how incapable must man be of learning from experience?" - George Bernard Shaw

Belief and religion are often used in the same context but in reality are very different. It's entirely possible to believe in a creator or eternal spirit of some kind, without ever agreeing with any established religion. People who do this are almost invariably gentle and caring individuals who will respect your views and won't try to 'convert' you to their own set of beliefs.

In contrast to this I believe that most religions were created, if that is the right word, by power hungry fanatics. These people are almost invariably convinced that their opinion is the only one that matters. They are charismatic, compelling and extremely capable of convincing large numbers of people to their own point of view. The best followers for those people are the ones who simply do not question what they are told, or lack the education to formulate an opinion of their own. It's no coincidence that religions are strongest in underdeveloped countries where education is poor and people will believe anything that promises them a better afterlife than the shithole they spend their real life in.

Many people need something to believe in, religion fulfills that need, but only when the person accepts all that they are told. The moment they begin questioning that religion, they risk destroying it's credibility for themselves and they don't want that, so they simply accept. For myself I do believe in a higher spiritual existence. I also believe that for the most part, the Christian church does more good than harm. (I can't speak for other religions) My biggest problem with Christianity is exclusivity, the notion that they are the only people who are right. This is akin to saying your football team has to be crap for mine to be good. This music can only be good if every other piece of music is bad. There are plenty more examples but you get the picture.

It's this exclusivity which causes fanatics to crash planes into office buildings, Knights to travel abroad and slaughter thousands, and governments to lock people up and throw away the key for no earthly reason. If only people could accept that their neighbour is entitled to have a different set of beliefs (or none at all), then the world would become a much better place to live overnight.If you're going through hell, keep going. - Winston Churchill

My guess is that many people who have faith in a higher power aren't worried at all about the details of their holy book(s). I've heard people say that about the Bible, that it's not meant to be a book to pick quotes out of, but a general guide. If they find peace with whatever religious knowledge they have, however little, then I guess they're getting what they need from it. And in my opinion, that's the best kind of religious person- who uses the Bible/Quran/Torah as a guide to good living, not as something to beat others over the head with the details.

On the other hand, any atheist who is going to agree to take a test on religious trivia is probably the same kind of person who is going to know at least something about the different religions. I bet those same people would score higher than the average person on geography and history, too.

It is implied that religious people should know more about their own faith than those who don't share it, which is funny in a way that they don't, according to this study. But it's kind of wierd for me, as a non-believer, to criticize believers about the details of their faith that they don't know. Looking at this thread, and others, and just people in life- it sometimes seems like believers can't win. If they follow their own holy books to a tee, then they're made fun of for believing in a magic god with his magic books. If they don't, they're ridiculed for knowing less about their faith than somebody who lacks it. Like Honeybee mentions, I'm much more interested in how they treat others and live their life than I am how much of the Bible they have memorized.

Doesn't surprise me at all. Atheists well look into the crap they don't believe in and understand why they don't believe in it.

What amussed me about this poll was that of the Christians, Mormans did better than protestants and catholics. Presumably as a younger religion there is less crap for them to know and hence less crap for them to have forgotton.

I guess what I was saying, rather long windedly, was that the more closely you look into religion, the less likely you are to believe in it. Therefore it makes perfect sense that the people who know the most, are the ones least likely to believe.If you're going through hell, keep going. - Winston Churchill

Joined: 11/21/2008Posts: 1,238Location: fluttering about , United States

HAHAHA! That vid was great, WMM. I noticed that too, Chef...dad just sitting there "oh, I think I'll just let your mom handle this one, boy."

The mom standing there cursing and yelling at the kid because of his sudden change of heart and mind about what he believes in definitely isn't the best way to handle it. What ever happened to nice, calm debates within the family unit?? Seriously, then coming around the counter and grabbing him up and getting in his face lol....hmmm. I do have to say I agree on one point though, him not getting anything for Christmas, because it is about God. If one does believe, then certainly the way said time of the year is so disgustingly commercialized would be disappointing, to say the least.

It is implied that religious people should know more about their own faith than those who don't share it, which is funny in a way that they don't, according to this study. But it's kind of wierd for me, as a non-believer, to criticize believers about the details of their faith that they don't know. Looking at this thread, and others, and just people in life- it sometimes seems like believers can't win. If they follow their own holy books to a tee, then they're made fun of for believing in a magic god with his magic books. If they don't, they're ridiculed for knowing less about their faith than somebody who lacks it. Like Honeybee mentions, I'm much more interested in how they treat others and live their life than I am how much of the Bible they have memorized.

You definitely live in a different part of the world than I do. Where I live, people are chastised, harassed, threatened, attacked (both kinds), etc. for even having doubts, let alone admitting to being a non-theist.

Religious beliefs are respected and admired here, no matter how extreme, hateful, or bizarre. Where I live, non-theists can't win. We can't even express our opinions if we want to feel safe in our own homes. Angry villagers with torches would be an exaggeration, but honestly, not much of one.

I'm not being argumentative. I'm just pointing out how different it looks from where I am. :)

As far as the original story above, I've met only two types of non-theists. Those who were raised by nonreligious parents who never had any reason to believe, and those who grew up with religion and then realized there was something that didn't add up. Of the few who I've met in real life and the many who I've met online, almost all of them were in the second type.

These people grew up with religious beliefs, and at some point questioned those, looked for more answers either from their church or the religious book(s). While looking for more answers, many of them learned much more than they ever had prior to becoming non-theist. As many non-theists have mentioned over the years, the more that they learned about religion, the harder it became to believe in it. I think someone in this topic stated it as when looking for answers, it just raised more questions, but never really answered anything.

I would suspect, generally speaking, that many non-theists could indeed have more knowledge than most believers for that very reason. They learned a ton while searching for answers.

Also, if they have had to defend their lack of belief to family, friends, etc.; what better way to do so than to point out the contradictions in the holy books. In other words, which sounds like a more valid argument:

"I don't know, I just kinda feel like that stuff is no more real than Aesop's Fables."

or

"How am I supposed to believe that the Bible is God's word when the stories claim that Adam & Eve were created in two different ways? As a logical person, I can't buy into that."

That may be another explanation for having more knowledge. Who knows for sure? :)

The reviews are in. Here's what people are saying about FicklePickleTickle: "BestCukeOnTheVine" - LusciousLola."Pickle juice rocks!" - curiousbutterfly."Pickles is really a jalapeño" - sw33tang3l"Will someone make that guy sit down, my kids can't see the movie?!?" - Some guy in at the theater."Shouldn't he be wearing clothes if he's going to be in the wedding?" - Your mom."If FTP Eats A Pickle, Is That Cannibalism? " Nikki703"FTP makes me wet. . ." - imhapless."Always thought he was dill but he's actually a sweet pickle." - kinkygirl.

So all Christians do not live by and study science? Hmm......I am an agnostic, and, as example, I know several Catholic friends who dont have a clue what the Shroud of Turin is.

Just Sayin,Joseph

I'm just saying, Joe, that being well-versed in something doesn't make it any more or less valid or applicable. Some people on Lush put up a giant wall between science and faith, as if the two can never coexist. Surely, there are some Christians that believe science is either illusion or the work of the devil, but they don't speak for all of us. Or even most of us. To quote something I read elsewhere on the 'net, about believing in both science and religion: "Science is the how, faith is the why."

So all Christians do not live by and study science? Hmm......I am an agnostic, and, as example, I know several Catholic friends who dont have a clue what the Shroud of Turin is.

Just Sayin,Joseph

I'm just saying, Joe, that being well-versed in something doesn't make it any more or less valid or applicable. Some people on Lush put up a giant wall between science and faith, as if the two can never coexist. Surely, there are some Christians that believe science is either illusion or the work of the devil, but they don't speak for all of us. Or even most of us. To quote something I read elsewhere on the 'net, about believing in both science and religion: "Science is the how, faith is the why."

The problem is human nature. Science and religion can coexist, but not for all. For some, it must be one or the other, and that is truly sad.

I'm a christian and I didn't do that good on the test I found in the other thread but I am not telling my score haha. But what does it matter what I know about radical islam or hindu people? I have my god and my religion so it means nothing that I can't tell you things about all those other religions. Maybe if it was a test about just christian religion the results would be different. I could ace that test unless they went into all the catholic stuff like saints.

You cannot post new topics in this forum.
You cannot reply to topics in this forum.
You cannot delete your posts in this forum.
You cannot edit your posts in this forum.
You cannot create polls in this forum.
You cannot vote in polls in this forum.